Well, it all started many years back when I was looking for a podcast about internet marketing. I was convinced that podcasts were a good way to gain knowledge in specific disciplines, so I started looking for shows that talked about things I was interested in.

No, it wasn’t the Empire Flippers podcast that I stumbled upon that day; it was Internet Business Mastery, which I still listen to today.

And then, it was through Tropical MBA that I learned about Empire Flippers. Empire Flippers is basically the “sister podcast” of Tropical MBA. The two podcasts definitely share some similarities.

Are you a podcast freak…?

Thanks to this show, I know more about internet business than I ever imagined possible.

You may be wondering why I listen to so many business podcasts (this is a site about music, right?). The main reason is that they inspire me. As an owner of several web properties, I am always looking for ways to monetize, market myself better, and serve more people.

Notice how I’m not really beating around the bush with the “monetize” comment. Yes, from my perspective, what I’m putting together over the long haul is a business, and businesses have to make money!

It sounds crazy, and I don’t know if it’s totally realistic, but I actually have plans to increase the number of posts (and thus free content) on this site to over 2,000 in the next two years (including podcast episodes).

Anyway, I know that was a bit of a long setup, but this is where we finally arrive at today’s discussion.

Outreach and Building

How do you build a loyal online following?

The reality of the matter is that, while this site is starting to look great, and is attracting more attention, it’s still nowhere near where I would like it to be. I can say from previous experience that you eventually reach a “tipping point” with websites. Suddenly, visitors start to interact with you; you get emails, comments, and social shares. If you have products or services, people start purchasing them. That has yet to happen on a bigger scale here.

On the Empire Flippers podcast, they were talking about the fact that keeping a ratio of 70% outreach and 30% building is ideal, especially while you are still new.

While I would not say that this site is brand new (I started podcasting in 2009), it was only recently that I re-branded. The Music Entrepreneur brand is not yet known. This is why I’m thinking about putting more effort into outreach. I can keep posting here until I’m blue in the face, but I still need a way to make people aware of what I’m doing.

So what is outreach and building exactly? These weren’t necessarily the exact terms they were using on Empire Flippers, but the idea is this:

You spend 70% of your time writing guest posts, commenting on forums and other people’s blogs, serving them, and demonstrating your expertise. You spend 30% of your time building your own site and maintaining it.

My current ratio is probably flipped to the other extreme, because content production takes considerable time, and writing a blog post might be all the energy or time I have in a day to continue to build up this site.

If I started doing more outreach however, the same energy could go towards developing relationships, answering questions on forums and pitching guest posts. That’s why I’m rethinking the building out of this site right now. I may actually have to spend less time posting here while reaching out to more people.

Final Thoughts

What can you take away from the 70/30 concept? If you already have a strong following, your ratio would probably look considerably different, but if you’re still new to the scene, then it makes sense to be proactive about building lasting partnerships.

Where is your ratio right now? Is it out of balance? Do you need to make some changes? Why or why not? Let me know in the comments section below!

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David Andrew Wiebe has built an extensive career in songwriting, live performance, recording, session playing, production work, investing, and music instruction. In addition to helping musicians unlock their full potential, he also continues to maintain a performance schedule with Long Jon Lev and Adrenalize. If you'd like to be notified whenever the blog is updated, click here to subscribe.